A key part of my message for more than a decade has been to encourage people to eat further against the grain than they are accustomed to or even than they think they should. If you stop and think about it, reducing or avoiding grains in one’s diet and eating more vegetables in their place is really eating more of a Paleolithic (or Stone Age hunter/gatherer) diet. A good portion of the clients I counsel gradually adopts this diet or goes more and more that way as time goes on, especially when dealing with serious health conditions.

Today, more foods than ever are labeled “gluten-free.” Would it surprise you to know there is no official definition of “gluten-free” approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? It’s true.

Buying gluten-free food is the only treatment for people with celiac disease, an autoimmune disease reaction to gluten, as well as other forms of non-celiac gluten intolerance. The FDA is expected to issue its final guidelines on gluten-free labeling later this year. That’s a welcome development, but it’s not the end. You might think that after the FDA makes its ruling, all of us will be able to easily choose foods that are completely devoid of gluten. Unfortunately, it’s much more complicated than that. For the sake of your health, it’s important to understand the issues behind the label.